Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

The Guardian didn’t much like Noel Coward’s Relative Values – but you will

Plus: a play about paedo-paranoia that implodes under the weight of its internal contradictions

Dazzling: Patricia Hodge, Caroline Quentin and Rory Bremner in ‘Relative Values’ [Getty Images/Shutterstock/iStock/Alamy] 
issue 03 May 2014

Cripes. How did I get that one wrong? A few issues back I blithely predicted that Harry Hill’s musical I Can’t Sing would run for three years. It closes this month, so I’m a little reluctant to praise another glittering comedy, Relative Values by Noël Coward, which, like Hill’s stricken satire, has received a few snubs from the critics.

GIF Image

Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

TRY A MONTH FREE
Our magazine articles are for subscribers only. Try a month of Britain’s best writing, absolutely free.

Comments

Join the debate, free for a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.

Already a subscriber? Log in